James Cameron’s latest film Avatar has had yet another strong weekend at the box office, making $50.3 million and breaking the record for biggest four weekend gross, previously held by Cameron’s penultimate film Titanic.

Despite having not such a spectacular opening weekend, Avatar has maintained dropped off less than most movies and has already made more than $400 million, faster than any other movie except The Dark Knight in 2008. If Avatar continues along a similar pace it will overtake that movie and possibly become one the highest domestic grosser of all time.

A great deal of Avatar’s box office performance can be attributed to how many customers have decided to see the movie in 3-D Imax theaters, where tickets are significantly more expensive (40% more in my market). The more expensive Imax tickets have cushioned Avatar’s box office performance and constitute about 13% of weekend sales.

This is all proof that 3-D signficantly increases the value of video content. Other media companies have reached a similar conclusion and last week there were also many announcements last week of new 3-D initiatives:

• ESPN and Discovery Communications unveiled plans to launch the first 3-D networks, both of which would be partly subsidized by Sony.
• DirecTV announced also announced plans for a 3-D channel, although it would be pay-per-view and backed by Panasonic.
• Walt Disney Studios and Sony announced plans to release 3D movies on Blu-ray discs.

Although less than 1% of television sets in the United States can display 3-D content, expect to hear about more 3-D ventures in the near future, and to be wearing weird glasses in front of your television. Perhaps Ray-Ban will design some more stylish shades.

The summer ended today and it seems to have been a mediocre season for Hollywood. The total U.S. box office gross between Memorial Day and Labor Day was $4.3 billion, which is 1.4% less than 2008 but 4% above 2007 per Variety. At the beginning of the summer the box office was 24% above last year but it now stands less than a third.

So how did the year-over-year growth drop so much over 36 weeks? First of all Hollywood had an unusually strong first quarter and it was simply difficult to maintain such a large difference given the inherent volatility of movie attendance. Secondly the summer season is much more important; the average summer weekly gross is 40% more than other seasons. The summer is when the industry makes it or breaks it.

Lastly the 2008 summer was simply hot, with more stronger releases like The Dark Knight, grossed over $500 million domestically, as well as Iron Man and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull which both made more than $300 million. So far this summer only one movie, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, has passed the $300 million mark. Looking forward the total 2009 box office is $7.4 billion which is 7% above last year so it should still be a strong year for Hollywood.

Update: Check out a Kim Master’s posting at The Daily Beast, “Hollywood’s Fake Math”,  which is a bit more negative in its assessment of the summer theatrical movie performance since it bases the comparison on tickets and not dollars.

Two weeks ago I noted how the U.S. domestic box office has been outperforming on a year-to-date basis (YTD). Figures through mid July tally ticket sales at $5.9 billion, up 15% YTD.

Looking at the cumulative ticket sales a large growth occurred during the first part of the year. Up through the first “third” of this year (the first 17 weeks right before the summer season as of the first week of May), ticket sales totaled $3.1 billion, about 22% more than the same period last year.

However, looking at the just the summer, between weeks 18 and 28 (highlighted in yellow below), the performance has been less outstanding. For this period, 2009 ticket sales stand at $2.8 billion, about 7.8% more than last summer’s sales at the same point.

It is possible that Hollywood had a stronger first quarter because of stronger titles or stronger demand. In another post I’ve noted how few big budget films open up during the first quarter and how this may be an opportunity for Hollywood. During the beginning of the year there was speculation that the recession was creating a need for “escapism” and thereby driving greater movie attendance.

In any case it seems that attendance growth is dissipating and that the rest of the summer will continue along the same trend. Although this past weekend Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince opened up strong to $77.8 million, this is half of the $158.4 million The Dark Knight made during the same weekend last year during its opening. Comparing total ticket sales for the top 12 performers during the same weekend, 2009 also undperforms 2008: $152.2 million to $253.6 million. Considering that The Dark Knight went on to be the number one movie in 2009, grossing $441.6 million domestically, it may be difficult for Harry Potter and the rest of the pack to keep up. Given that I don’t see any with true blockbuster caliber in the pipeline during the next seven weeks of this summer, it is probable that the lead 2009′s box office has over last year will lessen.